Point pleases Ajax's De Boer

Frank de Boer, Ajax coachIf you want to have a perfect start then you can say we lost two points today. We started the match well in the first 20 minutes and made the right choices, but after that we became too untidy. When you then lose possession the whole pitch is open to the opponents. We have to learn from this and become more clever.

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We had a lot of ball possession, created some chances, but so did they. This was a fantastic lesson for us

Frank de Boer

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We opted to block their midfield and gamble on counterattacks which we failed to convert into goals. But the players were very hard-working

Remi Garde

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In the end our goalkeeper Kenneth Vermeer saved us twice. We had a lot of ball possession, created some chances, but so did they. This was a fantastic lesson for us to learn as technical staff and players. I can live with the 0-0 final score.

Remi Garde, Lyon coachAjax are a team who enjoy to have the ball at their feet and play with width. We opted to block their midfield and gamble on counterattacks which we failed to convert into goals. But the players were very hard-working tonight and they were close to turning it into a win.

We were very wary of their team play and I was afraid we would sit back. In the first half we resisted well and the players produced lots of efforts. Bafétimbi Gomis, Jimmy Briand and Michel Bastos all worked very hard and we put in a strong performance.

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